Australian World War II Veteran Receives PH Liberation Medal
From left: Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attaché to Australia Colonel Dennis Gammad, Philippine Liberation Medal recipient and World War II veteran George Burgess, and Assistant Defense Attaché Colonel Nhel Patricio during the presentation of the Philippine Liberation Medal. (Canberra PE photo)
CANBERRA 20 July 2018 – Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attaché to Australia Colonel Dennis Gammad PA presented the Philippine Liberation Medal to George Alphonsus Burgess at Corrimal RSL, New South Wales on 21 June 2018.
Burgess was a member of the 13th Signals Unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1942 to 1946, and served in Mindoro during the Second World War.
Colonel Gammad expressed the Filipino people’s gratitude to Burgess for his service, together with about 4,000 Australian soldiers that eventually resulted in the liberation of the Philippines in World War II.
Burgess said that he is honored to wear the Philippine Liberation Medal, while his family members expressed their happiness in seeing their patriarch being recognized for his military feat.
The Philippine Government awards the Philippine Liberation Medal to any service member from the Philippines and its allies who participated in the liberation of the Philippine Islands from 17 October 1944 to 02 September 1945.
To date, more than 3,900 Australians have been awarded the Philippine Liberation Medal. END
For more information, visit www.canberrape.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philembassy.org.au or https://www.facebook.com/PHinAustralia/.